RENO - For four innings, the Carson National 9-10-year-old all-star team played on even terms with perennial powerhouse Washoe.
Things unraveled in the fifth, as Washoe scored three runs to take an 8-5 lead and then Chaz Clark threw out the tying run in the bottom of the sixth to save Washoe's thrilling 8-7 semifinal win in the District 1 tournament.
"They're a tough team," Carson coach Joe Tucker said. "It's tough to beat them in their own backyard.
"You've got to take a chance. It was the bottom of the sixth and there were two outs. No guts, no glory."
Tucker was referring obviously to having the game-tying run wiped out at the plate.
The inning started with back-to-back one-out doubles by Gehrig Tucker and T.J. Thomsen which cut the lead to 8-6. Cody Schmidlin singled Thomsen to third, and then stole second base uncontested. Luke Maher struck out looking for the second out.
Up stepped Jay Milligan, who had struck out in all three of his previous at-bats. Milligan singled up the middle, scoring Thomsen to make it 8-7. The third-base coach sent Schmidlin, and Clark threw home on the fly and catcher Billy Damon applied the tag to end the game in dramatic fashion.
It's easy to second guess the decision, but the sixth through nine hitters in the order were only 1 for 9 in the game. When you look at that stat, the decision looks real good.
"We scrapped," the elder Tucker said. "This was the best defense we played in six games. T.J. (Thomsen) had a great game. Gehrig had a great game. It was the best game we've had in terms of intensity."
Carson led 4-3 after two, as Tucker, Maher and Tristian Bakkedahl had run-scoring hits and the fourth run scored on a passed ball. Two of Washoe's first three runs were unearned thanks to a two-out error.
Washoe took a 5-4 lead in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Washoe sluggers Eric Anderson, who pitched four solid innings of relief to pick up the win, and Dylan Tockey, the Washoe starting pitcher. Tockey moved to third on an error, but was stranded when Michael Pinter popped to short.
Carson tied the game in the bottom of the inning, but it could have been bigger had it not been for a questionable call at second base.
Tucker led off with a double, but strayed off the bag a couple of pitches later and was picked off by Anderson. The tag appeared late and coach Tucker argued briefly to no avail.
Thomsen followed with a single, which would have scored Tucker. Schmidlin walked, and then Thomsen stole third and scored when Anderson threw the ball away. Anderson struck out the next two hitters.
"That could have been the difference in the game," coach Tucker said.
Maybe the call had an effect on Tucker and maybe it didn't. Washoe scored the aforementioned three runs, two on Tockey's bloop single to short left to take the 8-5 lead, setting the stage for the exciting finish.